South African police make more arrests as riots spread

[webfact]

South African police make more arrests as riots spread

By Onke Ngcuka

 

Police patrol the streets after overnight unrest and looting in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, South Africa, September 3, 2019. REUTERS/Marius Bosch

 

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police arrested more than 80 people and confirmed five deaths as riots in Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria intensified on Tuesday, spreading to surrounding townships with roving groups attacking mainly foreign-owned shops.

 

The streets of Alexandra township, at walking distance from the skyscrapers of Johannesburg's financial centre Sandton, were littered on Tuesday afternoon with broken bricks and glass from buildings torched in overnight fires and debris from police battles with local groups.

 

An Ethiopian shop owner, Abushe Dastaa, pointed to bare shelves and an empty fridge and told Reuters TV his entire shop had been emptied and vandalised overnight.

 

"Even now we are scared to come this side," he said. His store sells items like bread, milk and phone cards in the working class neighbourhood, which is regularly rattled by unrest and protests over poor living conditions and jobs.

 

The latest wave of unrest in South Africa has raised fears of a recurrence of violence aimed at foreigners in 2015 in which at least seven people were killed. Before that, some 60 people were killed in a wave of unrest around the country in 2008.

 

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday he was urgently sending a special envoy to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa to secure the "safety of (Nigerian citizens') lives and property".

 

Police have yet to pinpoint what triggered the violence, which began on Sunday when protesters armed with makeshift weapons roamed the streets of Pretoria's business district pelting shops with rocks and petrol bombs and running off with goods.

 

High unemployment and widespread poverty have been cited as possible triggers for the recent disturbances and attacks on immigrants, but some officials say the riots may be the work of criminal syndicates.

 

"We can't rule out pure criminality, of criminals using a sensitive situation where there are real grievances on issues of unemployment and foreign nationals," police minister Bheki Cele told reporters.

 

Cele confirmed five people had been killed in the three days of rioting, but did not give further details on the circumstances, or on arrests.

 

He ruled out sending in the army, as the government did in Cape Town in July to quell a spate of gang-related killings.

 

The premier of Gauteng province, David Makhura, said during an inspection of the damage in Alexandra that there was a "xenophobic sentiment" underlying the attacks. He said 86 people around the province, which includes the city of Johannesburg, had been arrested, seven of them in Alexandra.

 

Ramaphosa condemned the violence, saying in a video posted on Twitter that "attacking businesses run by foreign nationals is totally unacceptable".

 

Immigration to South Africa from across the continent and from parts of southeast Asia picked up in the early 1990s, spurred by the end of apartheid rule and the economic boom that followed.

 

But in recent years immigration has become a sensitive issue, with anti-immigrant attacks, economic hardship and a government clampdown on immigrants and asylum seekers.

 

(Additional reporting by Shafiek Tassiem and Mfuneko Toyana in Johannesburg, Felix Onuah in Abuja; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-04

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[TopDeadSenter]

I hate to say it, but re-colonizing SA is probably the only chance for any sort of peaceful and prosperous life for the people. They have proven 100% that they can not govern themselves.

[Joromei]

yes that is right , they can not govern themselves, they will just keep going the way they have been since common sense seems to evaded them.

[Puchaiyank]

Sad to see this country's chaos, land grabs, and killing sprees since obtaining autonomy...many more scenarios around the world where black leadership is not equipped to maintain peace and prosperity...be careful what you demand...????

[Inepto Cracy]

I thought the masses said in 1994 that they would become more prosperous and an example to the world, to showcase proper democracy. If this is democracy at work, why did they get rid of the old government that ran the country before 1994. There was much more peace back then, except for the 1976 riots, than there is now.

Now even being a foreigner - tourist or expat, or a white person, is considered hazardous to your health and safety or life.

Bush mentality is not a crime for the masses, so the killing and looting will go on and on, until there is only a cuntry like Zimbabwe left.

Cant say anymore as it will be seen as racist or hurt somebody's feelings.

Edited September 4, 2019 by Inepto Cracy

[stevenl]

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

I hate to say it, but re-colonizing SA is probably the only chance for any sort of peaceful and prosperous life for the people. They have proven 100% that they can not govern themselves.

 

6 hours ago, Joromei said:

yes that is right , they can not govern themselves, they will just keep going the way they have been since common sense seems to evaded them.

In 1994 apartheid ended, and the peo9ple were thrown into a democracy. In Europe and others that has been a slow, slow process since many years. It will take time, but they will get there.

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, stevenl said:

 

In 1994 apartheid ended, and the peo9ple were thrown into a democracy. In Europe and others that has been a slow, slow process since many years. It will take time, but they will get there.

Like thailand......

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, Inepto Cracy said:

I thought the masses said in 1994 that they would become more prosperous and an example to the world, to showcase proper democracy. If this is democracy at work, why did they get rid of the old government that ran the country before 1994. There was much more peace back then, except for the 1976 riots, than there is now.

Now even being a foreigner - tourist or expat, or a white person, is considered hazardous to your health and safety or life.

Bush mentality is not a crime for the masses, so the killing and looting will go on and on, until there is only a cuntry like Zimbabwe left.

Cant say anymore as it will be seen as racist or hurt somebody's feelings.

THE MIDDLE CLASS

Only 20 percent of South Africans belong to the middle class, of whom 50 percent are black Africans, according to a 2014 study by the University of Cape Town and the department of Monitoring and Evaluation in the president’s office.

That puts the size of the black middle class at roughly 2.8 million people. In 1993 the black middle class numbered around 600,000 people, according to a study by South African history professor Colin Bundy, who taught at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of London.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-election-facts/factbox-what-has-changed-in-south-africa-since-white-rule-ended-idUSKCN1SD2P8

So the number of middle class black South Africans has increased by 465%. While the population as a whole has grown by about 38%.

 

[bristolboy]

6 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

Sad to see this country's chaos, land grabs, and killing sprees since obtaining autonomy...many more scenarios around the world where black leadership is not equipped to maintain peace and prosperity...be careful what you demand...????

Actually, the land grabs you speak of are as nothing compared to the mass evictions from the  enforced by the the apartheid government. These lands were turned over to white farmers.  These evictions forced entire rural populations into the cities. A life they were ill prepared for. The big jump in South African homicides occurred in the cities thanks to government sanctioned theft of tribal people's lands.

“The escalation in homicide from the mid-1950s reflects the impact of the State’s apartheid policies of enforced racial segregation.

“Large-scale forcible removals destroyed communities and social networks, caused widespread trauma and entrenched poor conditions and spatial exclusion.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/329027/over-500000-people-have-been-murdered-in-south-africa-since-1994/

[Geoffggi]

2 hours ago, car720 said:

Everything that I want to say is racist.

But possibly true..!!

[mlmcleod]

Colonialism poorly prepared black Africans for self government.  I can not name a single country in Africa that has a successful democracy or has sustained a successful democracy.  Tribal politics are the rule there.  Once the politicians gain office they invariably favor their own families and tribes at the expense of all others.  Realizing that the same will happen to them later they hang on to office as long as possible.

 

It is a sad legacy of the European colonial powers!

[Nyezhov]

11 minutes ago, mlmcleod said:

Colonialism poorly prepared black Africans for self government.  I can not name a single country in Africa that has a successful democracy or has sustained a successful democracy.  Tribal politics are the rule there.  Once the politicians gain office they invariably favor their own families and tribes at the expense of all others.  Realizing that the same will happen to them later they hang on to office as long as possible.

 

It is a sad legacy of the European colonial powers!

Yes and where would they be without colonialism? Im reading about the Zulu nation right now, while Africa surely is a mess, it is far better than a world where the Chief gets <deleted> off and has a flunky shove a 12 inch hunk of sharp steel under your arm and into your heart. Just for the hell of it.

 

The West is responsible for the shape of the modern world. You can critisize the details all you want  but it is what is is.

 

Only the historically ignorant would argue that overall its a bad thing. Truly, the pen has been mightier than the sword.

Edited September 4, 2019 by Nyezhov

[Puchaiyank]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

Actually, the land grabs you speak of are as nothing compared to the mass evictions from the  enforced by the the apartheid government. These lands were turned over to white farmers.  These evictions forced entire rural populations into the cities. A life they were ill prepared for. The big jump in South African homicides occurred in the cities thanks to government sanctioned theft of tribal people's lands.

“The escalation in homicide from the mid-1950s reflects the impact of the State’s apartheid policies of enforced racial segregation.

“Large-scale forcible removals destroyed communities and social networks, caused widespread trauma and entrenched poor conditions and spatial exclusion.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/329027/over-500000-people-have-been-murdered-in-south-africa-since-1994/

Of course...????